Section VIII: Income tax deducted at source

I. - 1. The tax authorities calculate the rate provided for in Article 204 E for each tax household. It is equal to the ratio between the amount of income tax for the tax household relating to the income mentioned in 1 of article 204 A, after deduction of the tax credits corresponding to this income provided for by international tax treaties, and this same income for their amounts determined under the conditions mentioned in article 204 F and Article 204 G, with the exception of 6° and 7° of 2 and 4 of the same article 204 G.

For the calculation of the first term of the numerator, the income tax resulting from the application of the rules provided for in 1 to 4 of the I of article 197 or, where applicable, article 197 A is multiplied by the ratio between the net taxable amounts of the income mentioned in 1 of article 204 A, with deficits being retained at zero value, and the net income taxable under the progressive income tax scale, excluding deficits, charges and allowances deductible from overall income.

2. The income tax and income taken into account mentioned in 1 are those of the penultimate year for the calculation of the rate relating to instalment payments made and deductions at source made between 1 January and 31 August of the year during which the taxpayer disposes of the income or makes the profits, and those of the previous year for the calculation of the rate relating to instalment payments made and deductions at source made between 1 September and 31 December.

However, in the event that the income tax for the penultimate year or the last year could not be established, the income tax and income taken into account for the calculation of the rate are those of the last year for which the tax was established on the date of calculation of the advance payment by the administration or transmission of the rate to the debtor of the income pursuant to 4, without this year being earlier than the antepenultimate year in relation to the year of deduction.

3. The rate is rounded to the nearest decimal place. The fraction of a decimal equal to 0.50 is counted as one.

4. The rate, together with the calculations used to determine it, is communicated to the taxpayer by the tax authorities. The latter forwards the rate to the debtor mentioned in 1° of 2 of article 204 A.

II. - By way of derogation from I, the rate provided for in Article 204 E is zero for taxpayers who meet both of the following conditions cumulatively:

1° The income tax, before deduction of the levy provided for in Article 204 A, assessed in respect of income for the last two known tax years is zero;

2° The amount of income, within the meaning of 1° of IV of Article 1417, for the last known tax year is less than €26,065 per family quota share.

For the purposes of assessing the condition set out in 1° of this II, the tax credits provided for in A and 3 of E of II of Article 60 of Law no. 2016-1917 of 29 December 2016 on finance for 2017 are not taken into account.

The amount of income provided for in 2° of this II is indexed each year as the upper limit of the first bracket of the income tax scale.

III. - 1. Where the debtor does not have a rate calculated by the tax authorities or where the year whose income is used as the basis for calculating the rate is earlier than the penultimate year in relation to the year of levy, a proportional rate set under the following conditions is applied:

a) For taxpayers other than those mentioned in b and c of this 1:

b) For taxpayers domiciled in Guadeloupe, Réunion and Martinique:

c) For taxpayers domiciled in French Guiana and Mayotte:

;

d) The limits of the brackets of the scales provided for in a to c are reduced or increased in proportion to the period to which the calculation of the advance payment referred to in article 204 C relates or in proportion to the usual frequency of payment of the main remuneration, as it results from the law, collective agreements and agreements, contracts or practices, by the debtor of the income referred to in article 204 B. However, the debtor of the replacement income may make this reduction or increase in the brackets in proportion to the period to which the payment relates.

For wages paid under a fixed-term contract or an assignment contract whose initial term does not exceed two months or, if it is a contract with an imprecise term, whose minimum term does not exceed two months, the scales provided for in a to c apply, within the limit of the first two months of recruitment, to payments made in respect of or during a month after a deduction equal to half the monthly amount of the minimum growth wage and without making the adjustments provided for in the first paragraph of this d.

For the incomes mentioned in the same article 204 C, the grids provided for in a to c of this 1 apply to these incomes increased by 11%.

e) (Repealed)

2. By way of derogation from I of this article, the rate provided for in 1 of this III is also applicable to the income of connected persons, within the meaning of 2° and 3° of 3 of article 6, or dependants, within the meaning of articles 196 and 196 A bis, in respect of the last year for which the tax was assessed.

IV. - 1. Upon the taxpayer's option, the rate mentioned in III of this article is applied to salaries and wages subject to the withholding tax provided for in 1° of 2 of article 204 A.

The option may be exercised at any time with the tax authorities and is implemented no later than the third month following that of the request. It is tacitly renewed, unless cancelled within thirty days of the taxpayer being notified of a new withholding rate.

2. When the amount of the withholding tax resulting from the application of this rate is less than that which would have resulted from the application of the rate provided for, as the case may be, in I of this article, in article 204 I, in article 204 J or in article 204 M, the taxpayer shall pay an additional withholding tax equal to the difference between these two amounts.

This supplement is calculated and paid by the taxpayer no later than the last day of the month following that in which the income is received in accordance with the procedures set out in 4 and 6 of article 1663 C and in article 1680 A.

Failing payment, recovery of the additional withholding tax is ensured and pursued according to the same procedures and under the same guarantees and securities as income tax. The income tax roll used as the basis for calculating the rate of withholding tax that should have been applied in the absence of an option is deemed to be an enforceable title for the purposes of prosecution following its non-payment.